Steaming and pressing machine



Dec; 7, 1937. w H SHIELDS 2,101,655

STEAMING AND PRESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 13, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 V6 0? 1155 wmddF Tn. skid s W. H. SHIELDS Dec. 7, 1937.

STEAMING AND PRESSING MACHINE Filed Jan. 13, 1936 2 sheets-sheet 2 nvemor @MQH Weidvm @N wm Patented Dec. 7, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a steaming and pressing machine and is particularly useful in' conjunction with the steaming and pressing of ribbed knitted underwear. The primary object and pur- 5 pose of the present invention is to provide a machine in which such underwear may be rapidly steamed and pressed to a fiat form and with a complete elimination of wrinkles which has heretofore been very hard to obtain particularly in -10. underwear made of the ribbed knitted fabric.

The invention consists in many details of construction and in arrangement and combination of parts for effectively attaining the ends stated in a practical manner. Many other, objects and 151 purposes not at this time enumerated will appear upon an understanding of the invention set forth in the following description, taken in connection with the accompaying drawings, in which,

' Fig. 1 is a side elevation with parts in section and broken away of the steaming and pressing machine of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevation taken at the opposite side of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical eleva- 25 tion, in somewhat diagrammatic form, showing the relation of the parts for accomplishing the steaming and pressing of the underwear garments, and

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the ma- 30 chine showing the upper pressing and drying roller and the heater and drier located directly beneath the same.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawings.

35 The supporting frame of the machine comprises a substantially horizontal base I from which vertical sides 2, spaced apart from each other, extend upwardly. A feed table 3, over which the unpressed garments are fed to the machine, is

40 located at one end of the machine and carried by supporting brackets 4, either integral with or permanently secured to the vertical sides of the supporting frame. At the inner edge of the said table is a steaming box, triangular in shape, which 45 has an upper side 5 flush with the upper side of the table 3 and in direct alinement therewith, from which an end 6 is turned downwardly for a distance and then bent to extend upwardly and inwardly toward the machine to nearly meet the 50 inneredge of the upper member or top 5, thus providing a narrow outlet at 8 for the escape of steam. The ends of the steaming box are closed so that the escape of steam therefrom is only through the narrowoutlet orifice at 8. I 55 Three hollow rollers 9, I0, and II, all of substantially the same diameter, are suitably mounted in spaced apart relation over and extend between the sides 2 of the machine support. The first roller 9 is located closely adjacent to the inclined side i of the steaming box described, as 5 shown in Fig. 3. The rollers 9 and l I, at the opposite ends of the machine, are mounted in suitable bearings l2 while the intermediate roller is mounted in suitable bearings I3 all of the bearings or journals being located upon the upper 10, edges of the sides 2 of the supporting frame.

The bearings 12, which carry the roller ll, may be adjusted by means of hand operated screws l 4 threaded through blocks l5 and connected with the bearings, while the bearings i2 for the roller 9 are adjusted by operation of levers iii which are pivotally mounted on arms H at the sides of the machine. The levers are connected between their ends each to a stud shaft l8 which extends through the adjacent arm I! and serves through a suitable mechanism to longitudinally move the rods l 9 which are connected to the adjacent bearings l2 at shown in Fig. 1, thereby adjusting the roller 9 to or away from the steam box described. Holding it in any position to which adjusted 5 is accomplished through an arc shaped slotted member 20 at the lower end of the lever it with which a locking handle 2! is associated (Fig. 1). With these two methods of adjustment for the end rollers 9 and H the tension of the driving chain, which drives all of the rollers, and which will be later described, may be maintained, and the first roller 9 to which the garments come is properly positioned with respect. to the steam box located at the inner end of the said table 3. The rods 19 are extended at the opposite side of the bearings 12 through guide blocks 22 shown in Fig. 1. r I 7 At one end of each roller 9, I0, and II sprocket wheels 23, 24, and 25 respectively are secured around and over which an endless sprocket drive chain 26 passes. It also passes around a small driving sprocket 21 mounted at the upper end of a bracket 28 which is secured to and extends upwardly from the base I of the machine (Fig. 1). The chain also passes over an idler sprocket 29 which is carried on an arm pivotally mounted upon a second bracket 39 mounted similar to the bracket 28 on the base of the machine.

An electric motor 3! has its shait'associated with suitable driving gearing or clutch 32 which, whenit is connected with the motor shaft, drives a shaft 33 which in turn has gearing connections to drive a gear 34 fixed to a shaft 35 passing through the upper end of the bracket 28 and on which the previously described sprocket wheel 21 is secured. The clutch 92 is operated by a bell crank lever having a vertical arm 36 and a horizontal extending pedal 31 mounted upon a pivot shaft 38 carried by the base I as shown in Fig. 1. By stepping on the outer end of the pedal 3! the motor is connected so as to drive the chain 25 and all of the rollers which are associated with such drive chain. When the pedal 31 is released disconnection between the motor shaft and the shaft 33 takes place so that the machine is stopped from operation even though the electric motor may continue to run.

Between the rollers 9 and I8 and located partly above the same is a large hollow roller 39 covered with a fabric covering 49. This roller likewise has a sprocket wheel M at one end with which the drive chain 26 engages passing under the sprocket wheel as shown in Fig. 1. The roller at its ends is mounted in suitable bearings carried by arms 42 which are pivotally mounted at one end at 43 to substantially horizontal bars 44. The bars 45, one at each side of the machine, are pivotally mounted at 45 at their front ends to the upper ends of the arms I! previously described. An adjusting screw 45 passes upwardly through the free end of each of the bars 54 to engage with the arm 42 and thus adjust the vertical position of the roller 39 with respect to the bars 44 which carry it. Rods 51 extend upwardly from the free ends of the bars 54 and through the free ends of the arms 92 around which are springs 48 which bear against the upper sides of the arms 92 and tend to hold them in a lower position.

Two vertical bars 49, one at each side of the machine, are pivotally connected at their upper ends one to each of the bars 44 at a point between the ends of said bars 45. The vertical bars 49 extend downwardly and are curved laterally at their lower ends and have pivotal connection with short arms 58 which extend downwardly from a shaft 5| mounted in suitable journal bearings 52' connected to the sides 2 of the supporting frame. A handle 53 is fixed to the shaft 5! and extends downwardly and forwardly therefrom in a position to be reached by the operator of the machine. On lifting on the outer end of the handle 53 bars 59 are moved vertically in an upward direction and serve to lift the roller 99 to an upper position. 7 7

An endless belt 39a passes around the end rollers 9 and II and over the intermediate roller i0 and underneath the larger upper roller 39 as shown in Fig. 3. The roller 39 extends downwardly into the space between the rollers 9 and I9 and substantially bears against the roller l9 except for the thickness of the belt 39a between when it is in operative position. Roller 39 preferably is substantially twice the diameter of the rollers 9, l9, and H. The ratios of the sprocket gears 23, 24, 25, and 4|, are such that the peripheral speed of the rollers in all cases is identical.

Arms 54, between the outer ends of which a roller 55 is mounted, are fixed to the shaft 43. An arm 56 extends downwardly and forward from shaft 33 to the end of which the upper end of a vertical rod 57 is pivotally connected, the lower end connecting to a pedal 58 which is mounted on the pivot 38. A spring 59, shown in dotted lines on Fig. 3, normally acts to hold the roller 55 in an upper position directly over the roller 9. By depressing the pedal 58 the roller 55 is moved downwardly to engage against a garment passing over the feed table and the steaming box, thereby gripping said garment between rollers 9 and 55 and causing the same to move inwardly as the belt 39a passes under the roller 39.

Between the rollers 55 and 39 a horizontal steam tube 69 is mounted having a downwardly extending narrow nozzle 3!, which extends the full length of the tube, from which steam is projected against the upper side of the garment as it passes underneath the roller 39. As the garment passes by the outlet orifice at 8 of the steaming box first described steam is projected against the underside of the garment so that it is subjected to the action of steam and to the moisture coming therefrom at both sides when it is fed into the machine.

Directly underneath the roller 39 is an arcshaped shoe 52 closed at all sides and both ends and having a concaved upper side 63 the curvature of which is concentric with the center of the roller 39. This shoe has a slight vertical movement and is guided in such movements and held from lateral displacement by pins 64 which extend outwardly from the ends of the shoe 62 into slotted guides 65 extending upwardly from plates 81 lying upon and secured to the upper faces of the sides of the supporting frame. Tongues or bars 65 extend from each end of the receptacle 62 adjacent each side thereof between which and the bars 6'! coiled springs 68 are located. Adjusting screws 69 pass downwardly through the bars 55 against the upper ends of the springs (Fig. 4) to adjust the tension of said springs, the efiect of which is to lift the shoe 62 against the belt 39a and press it in turn against the roller 39.

Steam is carried in a pipe 10 (Fig. 2) to a horizontal pipe H from which vertical branch pipes l2,13,1e,'l5,and 76 lead to the rollers I9 and 39, the shoe 62, the tube 69 and the steam box located at the inner end of the table 3. A return pipe 11 for the steam has return branches 18, 19, 88, 8|, and 82 leading thereto respectively from said rollers and steaming receptacles. Valves 83 are used to control the passage of steam to the tube 69 and the steaming box. It is apparent that the rollers l9 and 39 and the shoe 62, having steam circulating therethrough, are heated and serve to supply heat to the garments passing through the machine after the same have been steamed and dampened on both sides through the ejection of steam from the outlets at 8 and 6|.

Shields 94 of sheet metal, as shown in Fig. 4, are located alongside and extend above the upper edges of the sides 2 of the supporting frame so as to cover the mechanism at such points and protecting against accident. A delivery table 85, as shown in Fig 3 may be located above and extend away from the roller II and the belt 39a passing thereover to receive the garments after the same have been passed through and treated in the machine.

In operation the steam is turned on, filling and circulating through the rollers I9 and 39 and through the shoe at 62 and thoroughly heating the same. When the garments are to be processed in the machine, the valves at 83 are opened to a greater or less degree as desired, and the machine is started in operation by depressing the pedal 31. At the same time the pedal at 38 may be depressed so as to bring the presser roller 55 downwardly to press against the garments and engage them against the movable belt 39 whereby the garments are carried into and through the machine between the underside of roller 39 and the heater shoe 62. The garments are subjected to the actionof steam which permeates the same from both sides and dampens them, and as the garments pass through the machine they are pressed by the pressure exerted by springs 68 which force the shoe 62 in an upward direction against the under side of'roller 39. During such pressing they are also subjected to-the heat of such roller 39 and shoe 62 and also of the heat given off from the roller 10, leaving said roller ID in a flat unwrinkled and pressed and dried condition and being carried to the delivery table 85.

The construction described is a practical and efficient one for serving the purposes for which it is designed. The invention hasbeen embodied in complete marketable machines and are very satisfactory.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within the scope of said claims.

I'claim:

1. In a steaming and pressing machine, spaced apart rollers, an endless belt passing around said rollers, means for driving the rollers, a roller larger than the other rollers located between two of said first mentioned rollers and against the upper side of the belt and extending partially into the space between sai'd rollers and bearing against one of said rollers through the said belt, means for driving the larger roller, means'for feeding garments to be steamed and pressed onto the beltand underneath said larger roller, a shoe located underneath .and adjacent the belt and under the larger roller and conforming at its upper side to the curvature of said upper roller and contacting therewith through said belt, and means for heating said shoe, said upper roller and with the roller against which the larger roller bears through the said belt, combined with means for steaming said garments before the same pass underneath said upper roller.

,2.In a machine of the class described, three rollers spaced apart from each other and located horizontally, an endless belt passing over and around the rollers, a fourth roller located above and between two of said rollers depressing said belt between said two rollers and riding against the intermediate roller through the said belt, means for driving all of said rollers, the three rollers in one direction and the upper roller in the opposite direction, means for applying steam to both the upper and lower sides of a garment prior to passage of the same between said belt and the larger roller, means for conducting steam and circulating the same into and through the intermediate roller of the first three rollers and said rollers through the said belt, a shoe having a concave upper side into which the belt is depressed by said upper roller, means for conducting steam through said shoe, means for yieldingly supporting said shoe and for pressing the same upwardly against the belt, means for driving said rollers to move the belt in one direction, a feed table, a steaming box having an outlet therefrom for directing steam against the undersides of garments passing over the feed table to said belt and therefrom under the upper roller, means for directing steam against the upper side of the garment prior to its passage under said upper roller, and means for carrying steam to and away from said upper roller and the roller which is lightly contacted by the upper roller.

substantially twice the diameter of the first mentioned rollers located above and between the rollers and extending downwardly partially between the same and depressing said belt into concave form and contacting one of said rollers through the said belt, means for driving the rollers, means for applying steam at a point adjacent the roller not contacted by the third roller to the underside of the garments placed on said belt, a second means for applying steam to the upper side of said garments near the upper roller, means for pressing the belt against the underside of said larger upper roller, and means for heating the garments which pass under the upper roller on both sides thereof as the same are passed under said upper roller and away therefrom.

5. In a machine of the class described, front, intermediate and rear rollers mounted for rotation and located with their axes in substantially the same horizontal plane, said rollers having substantially the same diameter, a belt passing around said rollers, means for driving the rollers, a feed table located above and at the front of the front roller, means for directing steam against garments passing over the feed table to the belt and at the underside of said garments as the same pass to said belt, a fourth larger roller mounted above and between. the first and intermediate rollers of the three first mentioned rollers and extending downwardly partially into the space between the same and against the upper side of said belt and riding against said intermediate roller through the said belt, means for carrying and directing steam against the upper side of garments passed to said belt in front of said upper roller, means for heating the upper roller, means for heating the intermediate roller, a shoe underneath the upper roller and the belt having a concaved face substantially conforming to the curved surface of said upper roller, means for heating thesame, and spring means for pressing said shoe against the belt, as and for the purposes specified.

6. A construction containing the elements in combination defined in claim 5 combined with manually operable means for elevating the upper roller to a position above its operative position.

' W'ENDELL H. SHIELDS. 

